# Betach (Social Security): what they've published Close Read, episode 25. Betach (בט"ח), list 25, ballot letters ז. Published October 15, 2026. Israel's Knesset election is on October 27, 2026. - Page: https://closeread.show/israel-2026/social-security/ - Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGplCmw-AWY - Audio: https://media.closeread.show/audio/closeread-025-social-security-18276dc4.mp3 Betach hasn't published a platform for this election that I could find. The last platform it put out was for the April 2019 election, and it called for cutting VAT on food, electricity and household gas to ten percent. [S3](#source-s3) ## Who is Betach? Betach, which stands for Social Security in the sense of social safety, runs under the ballot letter Zayin, led by Semion Grafman, with three candidates on the list. [S1](#source-s1) [S2](#source-s2) ## What has Betach published? For 2026, I couldn't find a platform, a party website, or a policy page. The Israel Democracy Institute's page for this election, which links to party platforms, lists only Betach's candidate list. [S7](#source-s7) What exists is a three-page Hebrew platform from the party's 2019 run, with twelve numbered items. [S3](#source-s3) Everything I quote from it in this episode is from 2019, and I'll say so each time. For this election, there are two short statements from Grafman. One is a statement he gave the news site Kipa when he announced the run on August 30. [S5](#source-s5) The other is from a short interview with Arutz 7 on September 8, right after he submitted the list. [S6](#source-s6) Neither one is a party publication, and I'll label them that way. The party's registration with the Registrar of Parties lists broad goals like education, welfare, health, and fighting corruption, but that's a registration form, not an election platform. [S4](#source-s4) ## What does Betach say about security and foreign policy? For this election, I couldn't find a published position on Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, or the Palestinian question. In an interview with Arutz 7 on September 8, after submitting the list, Grafman said, "Leave me alone with right or left, Bibi or not Bibi," and said fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon are the first to fall victim to drug, alcohol and smoking addiction, and "we must take care of them." [S6](#source-s6) The 2019 platform called for at least doubling soldiers' pay, later bringing it to minimum wage, and moving to a professional army. [S3](#source-s3) ## What does Betach say about accountability for October 7? I couldn't find a published position on October 7 accountability. ## What does Betach say about the economy and the cost of living? This was most of the 2019 platform. It called for canceling most bank fees for households and small businesses, and canceling the interbank interest rate, and said that move alone would save the public about eight billion shekels a year. [S3](#source-s3) It said a small business shouldn't pay any tax in its first two years, and working families who recently finished their studies and had children shouldn't pay tax for the first three years the parents work in their profession. [S3](#source-s3) On VAT: ten percent on food, electricity and gas, and twenty-five percent on luxury goods. [S3](#source-s3) It also proposed a five percent levy on the profits of large corporations, paid as donations to social projects the company chooses. [S3](#source-s3) ## What does Betach say about housing? The 2019 platform proposed a heavy tax on empty apartments, a cap on rent increases, and requiring public pension funds to put ten percent of their money into building rental housing. [S3](#source-s3) It also called for releasing state land and confiscating Jewish National Fund land to build new neighborhoods. [S3](#source-s3) ## What does Betach say about religion and state? The 2019 platform supported legislation for civil marriage. [S3](#source-s3) It didn't address the Haredi draft by name. I couldn't find a published position for this election. ## What does Betach say about the judiciary and governance? The 2019 platform wanted every government service moved online, so no one has to show up at an office, and a single window for dealing with the state. [S3](#source-s3) It also said the party would decide how to vote in the Knesset through regular online polls of its members. [S3](#source-s3) It called for canceling the natural gas agreement and putting the people responsible for signing it on trial. [S3](#source-s3) Nothing on the courts or the attorney general. ## What does Betach say about education? I couldn't find a published position on education. ## What does Betach say about health? For this election, the only thing I found is the statement Grafman gave Kipa on August 30, that "it's time for the state to take care of people before they reach the breaking point," and that talk about the day after the war should cover trauma and addiction, not only security. [S5](#source-s5) That's a statement of focus. I couldn't find a concrete health policy. ## What does Betach say about social welfare, pensions and the elderly? In 2019, the platform proposed the same child allowance for every child regardless of family size, and stopping the National Insurance old-age allowance for people whose pension is above two minimum wages, while raising it for people with low pensions. [S3](#source-s3) ## What does Betach say about Arab citizens and minorities? On Arab citizens and minorities, the 2019 platform spoke generally about equal rights for all parts of Israeli society. [S3](#source-s3) No specific policy. ## What does Betach say about immigration, absorption and the diaspora? I couldn't find a published position on immigration, absorption, or the diaspora. ## What does Betach say about the environment, energy and transportation? Only the 2019 gas deal item, which said gas revenue should go directly to things like education and health. [S3](#source-s3) Nothing on environment or transportation. ## What Betach puts front and center In 2019, the platform called bureaucracy and corruption "the central problem of the State of Israel." [S3](#source-s3) In 2026, the one theme in Grafman's two statements is addiction and trauma after the war, especially among fighters coming back from Gaza and Lebanon. [S5](#source-s5) [S6](#source-s6) ## What Betach hasn't published For this election, there's no published platform, so every topic is missing in written form: security, October 7, the economy, housing, religion and state, courts, education, health, welfare, Arab citizens, immigration, and the environment. The detailed positions I read are from 2019. ## Chapters - 0:00 Intro - 0:19 About this series - 0:44 Who they are - 0:55 What they've published - 1:51 Security and foreign policy - 2:25 October 7, Economy - 3:13 Housing - 3:34 Religion and state - 3:45 Judiciary and governance - 4:10 Education, Health - 4:37 Social welfare, pensions, and the elderly - 4:52 Arab citizens, Immigration - 5:09 Environment, energy, and transportation - 5:21 What they put front and center - 5:41 What's missing ## Sources - S1: [Central Elections Committee, "רשימות המועמדים לכנסת" for the 26th Knesset (row: ז, בטח: בטחון חברתי בראשות סמיון גרפמן). Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260908210824/https://www.gov.il/he/pages/candidates-lists-26](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/candidates-lists-26) (CEC list index, Hebrew, published page updated 2026-09-30) - S2: [CEC page for the list: ballot name "בטח: בטחון חברתי בראשות סמיון גרפמן", submitted by the party "בט"ח בטחון חברתי", 3 candidates (Grafman Semion, Hanis Lubov, Zlatkin Dmitri). Also the IDI-hosted print of the same page as filed on 8 Sept. Wayback: none](https://www.gov.il/he/pages/betach_list25) (CEC list page, Hebrew, published 2026-09-08, updated 2026-09-29) - S3: ["מצע מפלגת בט"ח: ביטחון חברתי, בראשות סמיון גרפמן", 3 pages, 12 numbered items. Written for the April 2019 (21st Knesset) election: PDF created 2019-02-18. Hosted by the Israel Democracy Institute. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20250615195844/https://idi.org.il/media/12269/...](https://www.idi.org.il/media/12269/ביטחון-חברתי-מצע.pdf) (Platform PDF, Hebrew, published February 2019) - S4: [Registrar of Parties entry for "בט"ח: ביטחון חברתי" (party no. 59-900129-4), registered goals](https://data.gov.il/dataset/justice-miflagot) (Registrar record, Hebrew, published dataset updated 2026-09-30) - S5: [Grafman's statement announcing the run, quoted in Kipa ("סמיון גרפמן מסר"). The original statement was not found on a party channel. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260911110320/https://www.kipa.co.il/חדשות/פוליטי/1230611-0/](https://kipa.co.il/חדשות/פוליטי/1230611-0) (Statement in news report, Hebrew, published 2026-08-30) - S6: [Grafman speaking to Arutz 7 after submitting the list ("אמר גרפמן לערוץ 7"; headline and summary call it "בראיון לערוץ 7", an interview). Quote in article text. Audit 2026-10-01: the saved page embeds a 99-second Arutz 7 YouTube video of the list submission (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COTpmjdoek8, uploaded 2026-09-08), not reviewed. Wayback: http://web.archive.org/web/20260913235823/https://www.inn.co.il/news/705934](https://www.inn.co.il/news/705934) (Statement to a news outlet, Hebrew, published 2026-09-08) - S7: Hebrew (Israel Democracy Institute, 2026 elections party page. Used only to document that no 2026 platform is linked for Betach (only the candidate print). Wayback: not checked (API errors), 2026, published 2026-09-30)